Web Site Disclaimer, Privacy Statement & Copyright

Disclaimer of Liability

The County of Placer and its content contributors shall be not held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information or services on this Web site and assume no responsibility for anyone's use of the information or services. The County of Placer and its content contributors shall not be held liable for any direct or indirect damages caused in any way through the use of information or services on this Web site. This includes but is not limited to procurement or substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption. This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury which may be perceived by you, the Web user, to be caused by the information or services on this Web site, or by using this Web site.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the County of Placer, its Web content contributors, its agencies, officials and employees from all claims and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising from the use of the information or services on this Web site; by your using this Web site; or by its use through your Internet account.

Disclaimer of Warranties/Accuracy of Data

Although an effort is made to assure the accuracy and completeness of the information provided on the county's Web site, Placer County makes no express or implied warranty as to the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of the Web site's information. The County of Placer provides this information and all online services on an "as is" basis. While there may be changes to county information on topics covered on the Web site, these changes may or may not be made available on the Web site.

Many Web pages are copied and temporarily stored on other Web servers for Web user convenience and to speed page delivery. If you have obtained information from the Placer County Web site from a Web server source other than the Placer County Web site host server, be aware that Web page content or services can be altered or changed after they are first made available on the Web. Placer County recommends that you pay careful attention to the contents of any metadata (support data) associated with a file, and you contact the provider of the data or information directly with any questions about data accuracy, timeliness or completeness before using the data.

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The County of Placer is a distributor of content sometimes supplied by third parties and other users. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, users, or others, are not those of Placer County, but are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s). The content does not necessarily reflect the views, policies or practices of the County of Placer, or its agencies, officials or employees.

Any reference on the Placer County Web site to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, is not an endorsement or recommendation. Any reference shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

Disclaimer for Hypertext Links

The County of Placer and its contributors are not responsible for the contents of any off-site pages linked from the county Web site. As a user of the county Web site, you specifically acknowledge that the County of Placer and its contributors are not liable for any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other users, links, or third parties and that the risk of injury from all off-site content mentioned here rests entirely with you, the Web site user.

Links from the Placer County Web site to other sites do not constitute an endorsement from the County of Placer. These links are provided as a convenience for county Web site users and as an information service only. As a Web user, it is your responsibility to determine the content and usefulness of information you find on other sites.

Disclaimer of Duty to Continue Providing Data

Due to the rapidly changing nature of the World Wide Web and the Internet, online resources that are free and publicly available one day may require a fee or have restricted user access the next. In addition, the location of information, services or Web pages may change as menus, home pages, and files are updated or reorganized. You expressly agree that use of the Placer County Web site is at your sole risk. Neither the County of Placer, its content providers, agencies, officials or employees guarantee that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free.

Choice of Law

Information in this disclaimer is governed by the laws of the State of California. Any dispute arising from the use of information or services provided on the Placer County Web site will be governed by the laws of the State of California.

Privacy Statement

Thank you for visiting the Placer County Web site. The county recognizes the public's concern about privacy on the Internet and the Web. This privacy statement describes how information will be gathered about you from your visit to our site and how it will be used by the county's Web site operators. As a Web site visitor, you should be aware that much information submitted to Placer County is public information under the laws of the State of California. Under some circumstances, we may be required to disclose such information upon request, in accordance with the California Public Records Act or in response to other legal requirements.

The county will make every effort to protect personal or business information you choose to provide on our Web site in the same way it protects personal and business information provided through other methods.

This privacy statement is provided for informational purposes only. It is not meant to be a contract of any type. Placer County may change its privacy statement at any time, without prior notice.

Information Collection on this Web Site

If you read or download information:

If you only browse through the Web site, read pages, or download information, the county Web site computer will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. (This is a routine function of Web site computers.) We may store a "cookie" on your computer. (A cookie is a tiny element of data that a Web site computer sends to your browser. It is stored on your PC.) The information in this cookie is used only to identify your computer to our Web site, as we gather information to evaluate how visitors make use of the site so we may improve it. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:

The Internet domain and IP address for the computer you use when visiting our Web site (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university's domain);

Whether or not you've visited the county Web site before, and how long you stay;

The date and time you visit the site;

The pages you visit; and

If you linked to the county Web site from another site, the address of that site.

We use this information to help us make our site more useful to visitors -- to fix problems, and to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology visitors use. We do not track or record information about individuals, except as described below.

If you send email to a Placer County email address: By sending us an electronic mail message, you may be sending personal information (i.e., your name, address, email address, etc.). We may store your name and address, and may share your email with various county staff, to address your problem or concern or to answer your question. In addition, Placer County may be required to provide this information in response to a California Public Records Act request or a court order.

Email is not necessarily secure and can be intercepted. Placer County has arrangements with some third parties for online payments of some county fees. Always use those secure methods to pay any fees, fines or to make other county payments online.

If you use an interactive application: If you are filling out a form on the County Web site or using one of our online services, we may store a "cookie" on your computer. (A cookie is a tiny element of data that a Web site can send to your browser. It is stored on your PC.) The information in this cookie is used only to identify you to our online service or application, to make it easier for you to use this site.

If you register with a county department or agency or request other specific information: As the county adds online services, a county department or related agency may ask visitors who request specific information or a service to fill out a registration form or establish a user ID and password. For example, when the county Procurement Division adds an online bidding system, vendors requesting access to that service will be asked to provide their names, addresses, email addresses and other pertinent information so Procurement staff can process and deliver the information requested.

Other information may be collected on the county Web site through questionnaires, feedback forms or other means, such as cookies, to allow us to determine Web site visitors' interests so we can improve site design or service.

Privacy Statements for County Department, Division or Other Agency Web Areas

This privacy statement describes the information-gathering practices and procedures of the Placer County Web site in general. However, our site contains many departmental and agency Web page areas, to provide a comprehensive and convenient information and service resource for Placer County residents. For this reason, department or agency Web areas within the Placer County Web site may have posted additional specific information concerning their own department or agency Web information-gathering practices, requirements, or policies.

Links to Non-County (Third Party) Web Sites

This Web site contains links to information located on sites maintained by other public agencies and private organizations. Once you use a link to another agency, organization or company Web site, Placer County privacy standards no longer apply and you are subject to the privacy policy of that Web site.

Web Site Security

For Web site security purposes and to be sure the county Web site remains available to all users, this site uses software programs to monitor Internet network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Unauthorized attempts to upload information, change information, or cause damage on this Web site are prohibited and may be prosecuted and punished under current state and federal laws prohibiting activity of that nature.

Glossary

Here are links to definitions for terms used in this privacy statement, for your convenience.

Cookie- A cookie is like a little data ID card for your computer, carrying information about that specific computer. It can't store information about you - the actual computer user - unless you specifically provide it. When you visit a Web site, a cookie can show if your computer has been used to visit the site before, helping the Web manager to track how many visitors return to the site. A cookie also can store information about your computer, like the type of operating system you use, your Web browser, etc. That information helps Web site operators fine-tune their sites so they work well with your computer and software. You can set your Web browser not to allow cookies. Check your browser help files to learn how. However, that may mean some functions on a Web site may not work properly.